Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) and Young Invincibles (YI) have received support from VNA since FY 2016 to develop, pilot, launch and maintain StreetLight Chicago, an innovative mobile phone application that gives Chicago youth experiencing housing instability real-time information about an array of services key to their survival and progress.

The app continues to be widely used and is updated regularly with pertinent information and information about life saving resources. VNA, CCH and YI welcome other agencies that are interested in partnering with us to grow and maintain StreetLight Chicago.

Featured in the StreetLight Chicago app are two core functions identified by young adults experiencing homelessness—and service providers—as especially important: real-time data about availability of beds at shelters on any given night, and succinct information about health resources including proximity, cost and types of services provided. In addition to those core functions, the app also provides information about other resources including storage availability, legal services, education and job placement services, food programs and emergency contacts such as the National Runaway Safeline.

The overall goal of the app is to empower young adults by giving them the knowledge to access resources to improve their health and well-being, thereby decreasing the isolation and sense of hopelessness experienced by many precariously-housed young adults, and, ultimately, helping to position them for transition out of homelessness.  In addition to benefiting homeless youth, the app also benefits providers by making it simpler for them to convey information about their services both to their target audience and fellow providers.

Young Invincibles and Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) were recognized with a <a href=”https://chicagoinnovation.com/winners/streetlight-chicago/”>2019 Chicago Innovation Award</a> for their development and management of StreetLight Chicago.

VNA partnered with Thresholds in FY 13 to launch the Women Veterans Health Project, which provides a broad range of services to address the unique needs of women who have served in the military during  recent conflicts.

The Women Veterans Health Project responds to the increasing number of women veterans that require a diverse range of mental health and social services to manage the impact of military-related traumas. A first-of-its kind in the Chicago area, the Project partners Thresholds with the VA and other social service agencies to help women who have served get the resources they need to live hopeful, healthy and productive post-military lives.

VNA Foundation has supported the Chicago area’s free and charitable clinics since our first year as a grantmaking foundation, because we believe these clinics provide services that are an essential component of the safety net healthcare system. VNA has also proudly supported the development, launch and growth of the Illinois Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, a statewide association that strengthens these clinics and heightens their impact. 

A 2010 planning grant from VNA allowed the development of a strategy to effectively link and network free and charitable clinics throughout the state.  A subsequent award in 2011 supported infrastructure building for the newly reinstated/reimagined Illinois Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (IAFCC).  Since then VNA has supported IAFCC operating costs while also continuing to fund the needs of individual clinics.  We believe that building a strong association to work on behalf of free and charitable clinics is the key to creating a healthcare system that serves all people. We also see the clinics, and IAFCC, as important tools to reduce health disparities.

This initiative was created to recognize the dedication, volunteerism and creativity of longtime Board member Mrs. Chester A. Davis and was first presented upon her retirement from the VNA Foundation Board of Directors in 2010.  The Anne M. Davis Mobile Health Award is awarded up to once per year, at the discretion of the VNA Foundation Board of Directors, to a grantee using mobile health services in a particularly innovative, effective and/or impactful way. 

Beginning with her work on the Junior Board in 1962, and then as a member of the VNA Foundation Board of Directors from 1966 through 2009 (including two terms as Board Chair), Mrs. Davis set an unmatched example of service, commitment and enthusiasm that inspired all those around her. One of her particular interests was healthcare for the underserved, as provided by mobile health units. She was always rightfully determined that the VNA Foundation’s current work reflect its heritage and viewed the teams of healthcare providers who deliver mobile services as a modern equivalent to the home visiting nurses used by the original Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago. We are honored to make this award, in Mrs. Davis’ honor, to outstanding mobile health programs.